Crease retaining means for garments



Patented Sept. 6, 1938 GREASE RETAINING MEANS FOR GAR- MEN'I'S Louis G.Bowman, St.

Louis, Mo., assignor to Lewis Invisible .Stitch Machine Company, StaLouis, Mo., a corporation of Maine Application October 17,

, 4 Claims.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in creaseretaining means "for gar"- ments, such as trousers, coat sleeves, etc.

Among the several objects of this invention are to provide means forretaining creases in tubular body fabrics such as trousers, etc.; toprovide means for preventing the trousers from bagging at the knees, andto provide such means which may be readily applied to the body fabric bya single stitching operation.

With these and other objects in view which will more fully appear, thenature of the invention will be more clearly understood by following thedescription,the appended claims, and the several views illustrated inthe accompanying drawing. i

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a pair of trousers equipped with myinvention,

Figure 2 is an enlarged section taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, theridge in the tape being spaced from the apex of the crease,

Figure 3 is a similar view but showing the ridge in the tape in contactwith the apex of the crease,

Figure 4 is an enlarged plan looking at the inner face of the bodyfabric showing the tape and the single line of blind stitches whichconnect the tape to the body fabric at points on opposite sides of thecrease,

Figure 5 is a similar view but without the tape being shown, and

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the single line of lock stitches.

Like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout theseveral figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, A represents a body fabric such as a pair oftrousers which includes tubular or leg portions 5, 5, each leg portionincluding a front section a provided with a centrally disposed andlongitudinally extending fold or crease 6.

A pre-shrunken non-elastic tape B of woven fabric is secured against theinner face of each leg portion by a single line C of lock stitches ofthe blind stitch type. This tape extends longitudinally of the legportion and is centrally disposed with respect to the crease 6, i. e.,it extends equally on opposite sides thereof.

A sewing machine for applying this tape to trousers is shown, describedand claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 106,221, filed Oct.17, 1936, and the method employed in applying the tape to trousers isshown, described 1936, Serial No. 106,223

and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 106,222, filed Oct.1'7, 1936.

The single line C of blind stitches includes a needle thread 1 and abobbin thread 8. The needle thread is formed into a plurality of equal-.1y spaced needle thread loops 9 which are connected by thread portionsHi. Each needle thread loop extends in a plane at right angles to thecrease 6, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, and first enters the tape B onthe right side of the crease 6 as shown at H, then enters and emergesfrom the body fabric on the same side of the crease as at I2, 12 thenpenetrates the tape on the same side of the crease asat 93, then extendsacross the crease on the outer face of the tape. as at M, thenpenetrates the tape on the left side of the crease as at' l5, thenenters and emerges from the body fabric on the left side of the creaseas at 16, Ili and finally the bight IT penetrates the tape on the leftside of the crease as at l8 and is concatenated with the bobbin thread8. The bobbin thread 8 and the connecting portions in of the needlethread I are disposed in parallelism with the crease 6 and areequidistant from said crease.

The central longitudinal portion of the tape is formed into a ridge l9which projects into the crease 6 and is preferably disposed in spacedrelation thereto as shown in Figure 2, although the ridge may bepositioned in direct contact with the crease as shown in Figure 3. Itwill be observed that each needle thread loop anchors the tape to thebody fabric on opposite sides of the crease 6, and that said loop passesentirely through the central longitudinal ridge [9 of the tape. Thetension of the needle thread loops is such as to maintain the ridge 19of the tape in its projected relation towards the crease 6, andconsequently the loops constitute braces or ties which function toretain the crease 6 in shape, while at the same time the non-elasticwoven tape, which extends along the leg from a point well below the kneeto a point Well above the same, functions to retain the trousers legfrom bagging at the knee.

By employing a tape of non-elastic woven fabric, which has beenpre-shrunken, all danger of the tape shrinking and the trousers becomingunshapely when the trousers are subjected to water or to a wet cleaningprocess is thereby avoided.

It is of course to be understood that the details of structure andarrangement of parts may be variously changed and modified withoutdeopposite sides of the crease and including transverse thread portionsextending across the crease above the ridge formed in the tape andholding said ridge projected toward the crease.

2. In a garment, a tubular body fabric having an outwardly projectingand longitudinally extending crease, a tape disposed longitudinallyalong the crease and against the inner face of the body fabric, the tapeextending substantially equally on opposite sides of the crease, thecentral longitudinal portion of the tape forming a ridge projectingtowards the crease, and a single line of blind stitches of the lockstitch type for attaching the tape to the body fabric, said stitchescomprising a connected series of spaced needle thread loops extendingacross the ridge and engaging both the tape and the body fabric onopposite sides of the crease, the bights of the loops being disposed ina line parallel with the crease and in spaced relation to the adjacentedge of the tape, the connecting portions of the thread between theneedle loops being disposed in a line parallel with the crease and inspaced relation to the other edge of the tape, and a bobbin threadconcatenated with the bights of the needle thread loops.

3. In a garment, a tubular body fabric having an outwardly projectingand longitudinally extending crease, a pre-shrunken non-elastic tape ofwoven fabric disposed longitudinally along the crease and against theinner face of the body fabric, the tape extending substantially equallyon opposite sides of the crease, the central longitudinal portion of thetape forming a ridge projecting towards the crease, and a single line ofblind stitches of the lock stitch type for attaching the tape to thebody fabric, said stitches comprising a connected series of spacedneedle thread loops extending across the ridge and engaging both thetape and the body fabric on opposite sides of the crease, the bights ofthe loops being disposed in a line parallel with the crease and inspaced relation to the adjacent edge of the tape, the connectingportions of the thread between the needle loops being disposed in a lineparallel with the crease and in spaced relation tothe other edge of thetape, and a bobbin thread concatenated with the bights of the needlethread loops.

4. In a garment, a tubular body fabric having an outwardly projectingand longitudinally extending crease, and means for retaining the creasecomprising a single line of lock stitches of the blind stitch type, saidstitches comprising a series of connected and equally spaced needlethread loops extending across the crease at right angles thereto andengaging the body fabric on opposite sides of the crease, the connectingportions of the needle thread between the loops being disposed in a lineparallel to the crease, and a bobbin thread concatenated with the bightsof said loops and disposed in a line parallel tothe crease.

LOUIS G. BOWMAN.

